Creating great get-togethers for you and your staff over lunch can be tough. If you’ve ever run a brown-bag event at your business, you know people can be slow to buy in, and a lot of individuals don’t get excited about it at all.
But what can you do differently to encourage more attendance and really engage the people in your organisation? Here are some ideas to try for 2026:
Opt for low friction, high value
Never make brown-bag events mandatory. Mandatory attendance turns a perk into a chore, and employees feel like they have to do it because, frankly, they do.
During sessions, provide plenty of digestible content. Aim for about 40 minutes of presentation, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A. This respects everyone’s time while still giving people a chance to interact. Also, make sure there are plenty of in-room snacks.
Prioritise logistics over luxury
Please prioritise logistics over luxury. Don’t just focus on the food. Think about everything that will matter to someone attending. For example:
- Acoustics: Soft, quiet foods are best when people are presenting. Avoid anything that crunches into a microphone (e.g., carrots, chips).
- Easy to pick up: Offer bite-sized options. Don’t expect people to bring napkins, forks, or knives and forks, especially if they will be taking notes.
- Odour: Choose options that leave the conference room smelling fresh. Grain bowls and cold salads tend to work better than heavy garlic or curry, which can linger.
Consider your stationery
Please think carefully about the stationery you offer to attendees. If they can take something away with them, they’re much more likely to show up, especially if it’s useful to them later. For example, you could go for custom printed presentation folders to give attendees something physical and memorable. They can take these back to their cubicles, Where they are not only practical but also become a form of advertising the brown bag event to others who might want to attend in the future.
Apply golden rules for attendees
Please enforce a few golden rules for your brown bag event to help keep it from turning into a mess.
- For virtual attendees, mute them automatically when they join. They should only be able to unmute themselves when they are speaking.
- People should remain muted while eating at home.
- Clean up early. You do not want stains on the table or crumbs on the floor after a brown bag event.
- If someone asks a question, create a two-bite pause. The idea is to swallow before answering. You do not want people choking and creating a hazard.
Make it entertaining as well
Finally, all of the best brown-bag topics fall into the entertainment category, meaning they are both interesting and educational.
One of the best ways to boost entertainment value is to bring in a guest speaker from outside your organisation. It is often much more engaging than using someone internally. You could invite a wellness coach, a fitness expert, or a financial planner to provide real value to your employees.
So there you have it: some of the ways to amp-up your next brown bag meet.